


Damage

by aravenwood



Series: Febuwhump '19 [18]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Gen, Hurt Bruce Banner, Poor Bruce Banner, Poor Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 05:09:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17843078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aravenwood/pseuds/aravenwood
Summary: Changing back was always incredibly painful for Bruce, but never like this. Never so localised, never so excruciating and never so real. Of course, normally injuries would be mostly healed by the time he woke up.Written for the Febuwhump '19 prompt "damage".





	Damage

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is another one that was difficult to write, partly because I spent an hour and a half writing a drabble for a different day and then went back to this one. It was still really fun to write. And between this one and the other drabble, I wrote over 2k words today! Which is exciting because normally my brain dies at 1k.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Changing back was always incredibly painful for Bruce, but never like this. Never so localised, never so excruciating and never so real. Of course, normally injuries would be mostly healed by the time he woke up.

Not now though. He was already screaming as he changed back, not even given the good fortune of unconsciousness. He was already thrashing, already clawing at the spear protruding from his stomach. His head was thrown all the way back, gasping weakly between screams as tears flooded down his cheeks and pooled in his hair. He'd never felt pain like this before.

Hulk roared inside his head, so violent and angry that it was almost like he was slamming his fists against the sides of Bruce's skull, desperate to be freed. "BANNER GO!" he snarled.

Bruce was happy for that to happen. If Hulk took over, he could pull the spear out and they could heal, and finally this pain would be over. Their suffering would be over and this would be nothing but a memory and a nightmare that he could see himself having for the foreseeable future.

He could feel Hulk pushing to the surface, his skin growing tighter over his bones as he began to change. His hands tightened around the spear and already, before Hulk was even fully in control, he was pulling on it, dragging it slowly, very slowly, out of Bruce's stomach.

As suddenly as he was there, though, Hulk was gone. He let out a long, agonising roar inside Bruce's head as the spear slipped and new pain blossomed, this time in Bruce's chest. He screamed, burying his fingers in the dirt he lay on. His legs twisted and kicked at the ground. He slammed his head against the ground in a desperate attempt for something, anything to distract him from the agony.

His screams tapered off as he ran out of air. He tried to gasp in more but he couldn't, his chest was too tight and there was no air reaching his lungs. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe!

His panic grew worse, his movements more desperate as he fought against his body's injuries. A punctured lung, a small voice at the back of his mind diagnosed but Bruce couldn't bring himself to care about why he couldn't breathe, only that he couldn't.

"-Bruce!"

The voice which reached his ears was desperate and afraid. The hands on his shoulders shook him violently. One on his chest stopped his thrashing and held him down on the ground.

"Bruce, it's going to be ok. It's going to be fine, I promise." Tony had never sounded so scared, not even after the worst panic attacks or the most frightening nightmares. The fear was so intense that Bruce couldn't help but mimic that, fighting against the hands which held him down and hitting his head over and over against the ground.

The hands which had held his shoulders disappeared, only to grab his head and hold it still. "Dr Banner, it's alright. It's alright, we're here to help," Steve said smoothly. Unlike Tony he sounded calm and collected, his voice steady and reassuring. His thumbs swiped across Bruce's cheek, mopping up a few stray tears.

Bruce tried to copy that calm but between Hulk's booming roars and the tightness in his chest, everything was too frightening for him to even try to ignore. His breathless gasps became louder and more violent, until suddenly one caught in his chest and he let out a violent cough, then another, and all of a sudden he was choking. Something wet splattered his lips and from the taste on his tongue he knew exactly what it was.

Blood.

The coughs tapered off but left black spots across Bruce's vision. He felt so weak and even the pain was fading into the distance. It wasn't good and he knew that, but still felt a little relieved to be freed of the intense agony.

"...if it's gone then his healing will kick in. But we need to take it out now before he chokes on his own blood," Steve was saying in a low and urgent voice. "I can pull it out but you need to hold him down so that he doesn't fight and do more damage. Can you do that?"

"Yeah." Tony's voice trembled as he spoke and his breathing was fast and panicked. But he sounded determined and Bruce could almost see the glint in his eyes.

The hands on his face disappeared and for the first time Steve's face came into view as he loomed over Bruce. "It's almost over, you're doing so well but we need you to hang on for a little longer. I'm going to pull the spear out, we need you to transform. Can you do that?" he asked softly, his big blue eyes so calm as if he was trying to send Bruce waves of it with his mind.

Bruce looked up at him with his own half-lidded eyes and nodded sluggishly. "Come on, Hulk," he whispered, "it's almost your turn."

"HULK READY."

"He's ready," relayed Bruce and let his eyes fall shut.

"Alright. I'm going to pull after three, alright?" Steve said.

Bruce tightened his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. He nodded again. "Go," he hissed.

"Ready? One, two...THREE!"

Bruce felt the spear as it was torn from his stomach. Then he felt nothing at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
